The Last of the President's Men
Page 27
11. “What is important is that all the sacrifices that have been made should not have been made in vain. If we continue our confrontation you will win victories, but we will both lose in the end. It is a fact that in the United States all the press, the media and intellectuals have a vested interest in our defeat. If I have seemed impatient in the last days it is because I saw opportunity slipping away. When I say that we will maintain our position, I do not refer to details, I refer to the integrity of our relationship. For example, when Newsweek and Time talk about our agreement to a caretaker government, you know there is no such thing. I am not trying to convince you, but I want you to understand what we have attempted to do. Had it not been for the importance we place on our relationship, we would not have to make new plans -- this is why I leave with such a sense of tragedy. We will do our best and Bunker will be in touch with you.”
12. President Thieu said that he agreed with Dr. Kissinger’s exposition of the American political situation presently and as it would be six months hence. He realizes that the U.S. has many obligations, in politics it has new obligations every day. As for himself, he does not know in what manner he can find a way to explain to his people the difficulties that have to be faced. The country must be defended, but he understands that this is one part of a bigger problem. He would request Dr. Kissinger to explain to the President the problems he faces. If anything can be done to persuade the Soviets and China to use their influence on Hanoi, it would be welcome.
13. Dr. Kissinger said that he would probably have to have a press conference when he returned to the U.S. He will give the impression that progress is being made, that a war which has lasted for ten years cannot be settled in a week. He would give no details and would deny that there are any fundamental differences between us. A campaign against President Thieu and Vietnam must be avoided. Dr. Kissinger recommended that President Thieu and Ambassador Bunker continue discussions for “we must,” he said, “dominate events.” It is important that on the Vietnamese side there be no expression of the feeling that they are being let down by the U.S.
14. Dr. Kissinger said he would invite the North Vietnamese to Paris and would present the GVN demands although they will not all be achievable. He assured President Thieu that he is not an obstacle, that we have no intention of asking him to resign, but pointed out that should he become an obstacle, we cannot support him. Dr. Kissinger said that when he returned to the U.S., he will consider himself President Thieu’s comrade in arms, warning, however, that we may not face the ideal way in which we can continue together.
15. President Thieu responded by assuring Dr. Kissinger that he will not he provoked into taking a position against the Americans, will not fall into the trap despite efforts to make him do so. In looking back to what happened on November 2, 1958, we can say now that had it not happened the situation today would have been better.
16. Dr. Kissinger said that he believed the proposed agreement was a good one, but assured Thieu that nothing would be done behind his back and that consultations would continue.
17. President Thieu concluded by saying that whatever may have been said in the last days we must not let the South Vietnamese people believe that Hanoi has won this long struggle. The problem in South Vietnam is that unless the agreement provides the points he mentioned, it would result in the collapse of the morale of both the military and the people.
18. Warm regards.
TOP SECRET/SENSITIVE
EXCLUSIVELY EYES ONLY
NEWS SUMMARY
October 25, 1972
(nets, wires, columns)
The major stories of the day:
-- The “hard-line,” “tough” Thieu speech, RN’s meeting w/HAK (film on all) about which WH said little and McG’s challenges as to why VN wasn’t settled before dominated the nets. ABC only net w/ film of RN signing vets’ bill. Thieu increasingly seen as obstacle to accord w/ Cronkite saying it’s ironic but US/NVN seemed to have reached settlement but Thieu won’t go along. However, ABC’s Koppel found “resignation to the inevitable” in his analysis of Thieu speech. And NBC pointed out that despite Thieu’s description of coalition as suicide, both he and VC seem to be preparing for ceasefire. . . . McG on 2 nets w/ strident, pointed questions of RN on VN. Watergate etc. -- as if he were an “acid-tongued evangelist” challenging the devil, said CBS. . . . Brinkley said if war is ended -- after all the deceit and “entertainment” the government has provided in recent years -- the 1st task is to restore public trust in Washington.
-- All nets noted speculation that bombing cutback over North was tied to talks and on WH orders. Also the heaviest B-52 attacks ever in Saigon area were noted by all.
-- VP on NBC/CBS -- 1 as he received applause at Brigham Young defending US role in VN; the other w/ film as he whistled heckler to silence. . . . Shriver on NBC w/ less-than-spectacular street reception but the Mayor’s boys are apparently back in tow.
-- Tricia/Volpe on NBC/CBS dedicating a “people mover” in Morgantown. NBC emphasized protest and the election-timing of ceremony for a project which won’t be operable for a year while CBS focused on the technological advance. On both nets Tricia effectively handled rabble as she pointed
[HANDWRITTEN NOTE]
[Written at the top of the news summary] “Buchanan Tell Mort [Allin] et al that I am constantly amazed at the brilliant work done in preparing the News Summary. It is invaluable for all of us. RN”
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
November 7, 1972
MEMORANDUM FOR:
ALEXANDER P. BUTTERFIELD
FROM:
H.R. HALDEMAN
SUBJECT:
Future Plans
The President has requested that you forward to him an indication of your personal plans or preferences regarding your possible service in the next Administration. This should be done by memorandum and forwarded directly to my office by no later than Friday, November 10. This should accompany your pro forma letter of resignation to become effective at the pleasure of the President.
Between now and December 15, please plan on remaining on the job, finishing first-term work, collecting and depositing Presidential papers, and making plans for next term. This should not be considered a vacation period.
Regardless of your future plans, you should put together a basic book about your current assignment. It should be divided into four sections as follows:
A. How you define your current assignment. What is its objective?
B. What is its current status? Where does it stand?
C. Where should it go? What are the opportunities for improvement in accomplishing the objectives of your assignment?
D. How should it get there? What are the steps to fulfilling the objectives?
This should be as comprehensive as possible -- and should cover the full range of your responsibilities. This project should be completed by December 15.
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
November 10, 1972
CONFIDENTIAL
Dear Bob:
I know that you are confronted with a gigantic reorganization task, so despite the importance of this letter to me personally, and to my family, I will be as brief as possible . . . hoping, of course, that you will read between the lines and understand many of the whys and wherefores which over the past four years have generated my present government service preferences and their particular priorities.
First, let me say in all sincerity that in no way will I ever be able to repay you for taking the chance you did with me and my abilities. You alone gave me the honor and opportunity of a life-time, and although it may be a bit embarrassing for you to hear it, or read it, I must tell you that I will be forever grateful. I’m sure I join all others on the staff when I thank you also for allowing such highly personal expressions to be forwarded and considered.
Secondly, I want both you and the President to know that my “position preferences” are most certainly not overriding -
- that if asked, I will serve either of you in any capacity whatever.
Now, to the information requested in your November 7 correspondence. Frankly, and for the reasons cited below, I seek a change. I am anxious to find something which will give me greater challenge, greater responsibility, a somewhat higher salary, and more and better employment opportunities when the transitory appointee period comes to a close.
1) I fear being “typed", especially in my current Valenti-like role. Perhaps unwisely I have kept myself in check around the President and refrained from commenting on any issue . . . political, international, domestic or personal. I assumed you preferred it that way. But my guess is that he considers the good, fairly efficient, man-servant in the outer office akin to the village idiot -- one without mind or opinion. Yet I have done many other things in my lifetime, more by far than most people, and proved to myself and others a host of capabilities quite unassociated with the military environment. Prospective employers, however, will have no idea of what I might be able to offer if I remain here on the White House Staff, so “contained.” This is not to say that I want to be in the limelight. I am not built that way. But because I am not a lawyer who upon leaving Uncle Sam’s employ can go off to a senior post in a renowned law firm, or a one-time businessman, advertising executive or financier who has a multitude of corporations waiting for him anxiously, I must now, during this next 2-4 year period, surface sufficiently to make contact with the outside world.
2) I will be 47 years of age almost immediately after the second term begins, and on the threshold of 51 if I am kept aboard for the duration.
3) Alex and Susan are in college now, and in approximately 20 months Lisa will join their ranks. I have no debts but neither do I have an outside income.
4) I have a strong desire to do things, to organize, to innovate, to put ideas to work . . . and to achieve much more than I have done to date.
Here then, in order of preference, are the positions in government in which I feel confident that at this stage of my total development I could serve well and contribute genuinely:
1) Secretary of the Air Force
2) Secretary of the Navy
3) Under Secretary of the Interior
4) Under Secretary of Transportation
5) Personal Assistant to the President or Administrative Assistant to the President . . . with considerably increased responsibility and freedom to operate, and a salary of preferably $42,500 per year but at least $40,000 per year.
This seems a helluva presumptuous note on which to close, but then you did ask.
Sincerely,
Alexander P. Butterfield
Honorable H. R. Haldeman
The White House
Washington, D. C.
CONFIDENTIAL
INDEX
A note about the index: The pages referenced in this index refer to the page numbers in the print edition. Clicking on a page number will take you to the ebook location that corresponds to the beginning of that page in the print edition. For a comprehensive list of locations of any word or phrase, use your reading system’s search function.
A
ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile) system, 41
Abplanalp, Robert, 94
Abrams, Gen. Creighton, 87–88, 122, 123
Aeronautica ’73, 162
Agnew, Spiro, 63
Air Force
Butterfield’s career in, 1, 5–9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 117–18
Skyblazers, 8
Strolling Strings, 64–65
All the President’s Men (Bernstein and Woodward), 104, 149–50
Ambrose, Stephen, 52
Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) system, 41
Apollo 8 program, 23, 41
Arab sources, and Kissinger, 109–10
Armistead & Alexander, 180
Armstrong, Scott, 152–55, 161
assassinations
Nixon, Bremer’s plans regarding, 104–5
Wallace, George, 103–4
attack group, 108
Australia, Butterfield in, 5–6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14
B
B-52s, 120, 128–29
Baker, Howard, 161–65, 167, 168, 171–72
Barker, Bernard, 146
Bernhardt, Sgt. Michael, 51
Bernstein, Carl, 4, 145–46
All the President’s Men (with Bob Woodward), 104, 149–50
The Best and the Brightest (Halberstam), 117
black population of United States, memo on, 47–49, 205
Blanton, Thomas S., 191n
Blind Ambition (Dean), 149
Bok, Derek, 59–60
Borman, Frank, 23
Boyce, Eugene, 150
Bradlee, Ben, 118
Bremer, Arthur, 104–5
Brezhnev, Leonid, 125
Brinegar, Claude, 179
Brown, Bob, 47–48, 49
Buchanan, Pat, 43, 44, 135, 274
Buckley, William F., 93
Bull, Steve, 60, 76, 91
Bundy, McGeorge, 142
Burden, Amanda, 107
Burger, Vera, 84
Burger, Warren E., 84–87, 228–33
Burns, Arthur, 74–75, 143, 225
Bush, George H. W., 62, 180
BusinessWeek, 24
Butterfield, Alexander P. See also Nixon, Richard M.; taping system; Vietnam; Watergate; White House staff
Air Force career, 1, 5–9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 117–18
in All the President’s Men (Woodward and Bernstein), 149–50
appointment as deputy assistant to President, 6–17, 176*
automobile accident of wife and daughter, 66–67
as carbon copy of Haldeman, 20–21, 28
CIA, alleged to be Nixon contact for, 179–80
corporate career, 180–81
as Defense liaison to Johnson Administration, 5, 19, 26
divorce, 180
documents from files, 1–4, 143, 199–201, 203–76 (See also specific topics and persons discussed in documentation)
education of, 6, 7, 181
entry into Oval Office unannounced by, 60
exit from White House staff, 136–37, 143
at FAA, 140–41, 142–43, 161–62, 170, 171, 179
first view of Nixon, 11
Haig, congratulation letter to, 90, 238
Haldeman, relationship with, 6, 41, 63–64
impeachment hearings, testimony at, 175–76
at inaugural staff meeting, 17–18
initial interactions with Nixon, 32–40
interviews with, 2, 3, 183–84
introduced to Nixon, 28–31
mother of, 173, 178
office location and power relationships, 63–64
Pat Nixon, relationship with, 25–27, 64–66, 138*
personal bond with Nixon, lack of, 141, 158, 176
personal characteristics, 1, 3, 7–8, 10
personal snubs, reaction to, 141–42, 158
photograph wall, 181–82
request for position of greater authority, 138–40, 276–78
responsibilities of, 28, 40–41, 63–64, 69–70, 138, 138*
speaking tours and lectures, 179, 181
spy placed in Teddy Kennedy’s Secret Service detail by, 106–8, 136
staff resignation requirement following reelection and, 138, 275
Butterfield, Charlotte (wife)
appointment of Butterfield to deputy assistant and, 15, 16
automobile accident, 66–67
on CIA contact man allegations, 179
clearing out of Butterfield’s office and, 143
divorce, 180
on handsomeness of husband, 6
personal relationship with Jo Haldeman, 6
Watergate testimony regarding tapes and, 150, 151, 156, 161, 168
Butterfield, Rear Admiral Horace (father), 173, 178
Butterfield, Susan (daughter), 66–67, 166, 187n
Butterfield memoir (unpublished), 2, 9, 37, 101, 184
>
Buzhardt, J. Fred, 153, 174
C
cabinet members
dinner at Camp David, 133–35
memo on reelection campaign concerning, 131–33
social responsibilities of, 61–62
Cabinet Room, White House, 34, 78, 79, 156
California Life Corporation, 180
Calley, Lt. William L., 50, 52, 54, 55
Cambodia, bombing campaign against, 113, 114, 118
Camp David, 94–98, 133, 134, 138*, 156
The Catcher in the Rye (Salinger), 159–60
Caulfield, Jack, 54
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 109–11, 124, 179–80, 191n, 244–63
Chapin, Dwight, 26–27, 39, 95, 175
“Checkers” speech, 84
China
opening to, 92–93, 124
U.S. spying on, 111
Christmas bombing (1972) of Vietnam, 128–29
church services at White House, 73–75, 221–25
Churchville, Lou, 170
CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), 109–11, 124, 179–80, 191n, 244–63
Cleveland Plain Dealer, 53
Cole, Ken, 21–22
Coleman, William, 179
Colson, Charles (Chuck), 104, 140, 164
Committee for the Preservation of the White House, 59
Committee for the Re-election of the President (CREEP), 134
confidentiality. See secrecy/confidentiality
Connally, John, 132, 134, 137, 140
Conrad, Joseph, Lord Jim, 160
Cox, Archibald, 175
CREEP (Committee for the Re-election of the President), 134
Cronkite, Walter, 93
Cuban Missile Crisis, 111
D
Dash, Sam, 150, 152
Davis, Sammy, Jr., 181
Dean, John, 147–49, 152–53, 155, 174